Canadian Immigration One half of recent immigrants come from Asia One-half of the persons who immigrated to Canada between 1986 and 2001 and who were living in Canada in 2001 were born in Asia. Immigrants from East Asia—Hong Kong, China, South Korea, Japan and Taiwan—were the most numerous, accounting for over one quarter of immigrants who landed during 1996-2001. The origins of the pre-1986 immigrant population are representative of Canada’s pre-1967 immigration policy that favoured immigrants from Europe. One-third of these earlier immigrants were born in Western Europe, and another one-fifth came from the United Kingdom.

Immigration Patterns

Asian countries of birth are predominant Over the past several decades there has been a considerable change in the source countries of immigrants. In 2001, for example, there were 963,000 residents who had very recently landed in Canada, between 1996 and 2001. The most common country of birth for these immigrants was China, accounting for 13% of these new permanent residents to Canada, and 17% including persons born in Hong Kong. The ten most common countries of birth—China, India, the Philippines, Pakistan, Hong Kong, Iran, Taiwan, the United States, South Korea and Sri Lanka—accounted for 52% of these very recent immigrants. In comparison, only three of these countries—the United States, India and China—were in the top ten countries of birth of immigrants who landed in Canada before 1986. Among earlier immigrants—those arriving in Canada before 1986—the United Kingdom and Italy were the most common countries of birth, accounting for 28% of this group.

Birth Origins In general, the birth origins of Canada’s immigrant population vary in relation to the period of immigration. European birth origins are predominant among those who immigrated in the 1950s, 1960s and to a lesser extent in the 1970s, and Asian birth origins are predominant among those who immigrated in the 1980s and 1990s. For very recent immigrants, nine of the top ten countries of birth are in Asia, as are six of the top ten countries of birth of immigrants who landed during the 1986-1995 period.

Period of Immigration – Table 1 Table B-1: Immigrants by period of immigration—top ten countries of birth, Canada, 2001 (number and percentage distribution) All immigrants Rank Country Number Share 1 United Kingdom 606,000 11% 2 China, People’s Republic of 332,800 6% 3 Italy 315,500 4 India 314,700 5 United States 237,900 4% 6 Hong Kong 235,600 7 Philippines 232,700 8 Poland 180,400 3% 9 Germany 174,100 10 Portugal 153,500 Top ten countries 2,783,200 51% All other countries 2,665,300 49% Total 5,448,500 100%

Period of Immigration – Table 2 Immigrated before 1986 1 United Kingdom 536,300 18% 2 Italy 305,500 10% 3 United States 164,100 6% 4 Germany 151,300 5% 5 Portugal 119,400 4% 6 India 117,000 7 Netherlands 108,600 8 China, People’s Republic of 95,900 3% 9 Poland 89,300 10 Viet Nam 76,100 Top ten countries 1,763,500 60% All other countries 1,193,100 40% Total 2,956,600 100%

Period of Immigration – Table 3 Immigrated 1986-1995 1 Hong Kong 131,100 9% 2 China, People’s Republic of 112,000 7% 3 India 106,000 4 Philippines 105,700 5 Poland 82,800 5% 6 Viet Nam 61,300 4% 7 Sri Lanka 54,800 8 United Kingdom 49,900 3% 9 United States 44,100 10 Jamaica 36,600 2% Top ten countries 784,300 51% All other countries 744,200 49% Total 1,528,500 100%

Period of Immigration – Table 4 Immigrated 1996-2001 1 China, People’s Republic of 124,900 13% 2 India 91,600 10% 3 Philippines 55,500 6% 4 Pakistan 43,100 4% 5 Hong Kong 37,700 6 Iran 31,100 3% 7 Taiwan 30,300 8 United States 29,700 9 South Korea 29,200 10 Sri Lanka 25,300 Top ten countries 498,400 52% All other countries 464,900 48% Total 963,300 100%

Provincial Settlement Patterns The distribution of the immigrant population over Canada’s major regions has been rather stable over time. Over one-half of each of the three successive groups of immigrants (earlier immigrants, immigrants who landed during the 1986-1995 period, and 1996-2001 very recent immigrants) lives in Ontario. The shares of British Columbia and Quebec have increased somewhat, while other regions have seen their shares decline.

Provincial Settlement Patterns (cont’d) Table B-2: Immigrants by period of immigration and Canadian-born—province or territory, Canada, 2001 (number and percentage distribution)   Canadian-born Immigrants Immigrated before 1986 Immigrated 1986-1995 Immigrated 1996-2001 British Columbia 2,821,900 1,009,800 527,900 290,500 191,400 Alberta 2,485,500 438,300 259,100 112,700 66,600 Saskatchewan 912,200 47,800 32,500 8,700 6,600 Manitoba 965,500 133,700 85,900 30,200 17,500 Ontario 8,164,900 3,030,100 1,621,600 869,700 538,700 Quebec 6,378,400 707,000 373,700 201,700 131,700 New Brunswick 695,600 22,500 16,500 3,400 2,600 Prince Edward Island 128,900 4,100 3,000 600 500 Nova Scotia 853,700 41,300 27,500 8,000 5,700 Newfoundland and Labrador 499,100 5,400 1,500 1,100 Yukon/Northwest Territory/Nunavut 86,200 5,900 3,500 800 Canada 23,991,900 5,448,500 2,956,600 1,528,500 963,300

Provincial Settlement Patterns (cont’d) British Columbia 11.8% 18.5% 17.9% 19.0% 19.9% Alberta 10.4% 8.0% 8.8% 7.4% 6.9% Saskatchewan 3.8% 0.9% 1.1% 0.6% 0.7% Manitoba 4.0% 2.5% 2.9% 2.0% 1.8% Ontario 34.0% 55.6% 54.8% 56.9% 55.9% Quebec 26.6% 13.0% 12.6% 13.2% 13.7% New Brunswick 0.4% 0.2% 0.3% Prince Edward Island 0.5% 0.1% 0.0% Nova Scotia 3.6% 0.8% Newfoundland and Labrador 2.1% Yukon/Northwest Territory/Nunavut Canada 100%

Settlement Preferences of Immigrants The settlement preferences of immigrants, while fairly stable over time, are very different from the choices made by persons born in Canada. More than one in two recent immigrants and one in three Canadian-born live in Ontario, and one in five recent immigrants and one in eight Canadian-born live in British Columbia. Only these two provinces have a larger share of the country’s 5.4 million immigrants than of the 24 million Canadian-born. At the opposite end of the spectrum are the Atlantic provinces with 10% of the Canadian-born and only 1% of recent immigrants.